Unravelling the mysteries of those long disappeared

Using old files, new tech and tireless detective work, a small police team has solved 241 cold cases. Its members explain to Harriette Boucher why they refuse to give up on the missing

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Sifting through decades-old files and harnessing the reach of social media, a little-known unit in the West Midlands has solved more than 240 missing person cold cases in just three and a half years.

Known as the long-term complex team, the five-person unit was created to find people who have slipped through the cracks – those whose disappearances were never resolved and whose names risked fading from public memory.

When the team was formed in April 2022, more than 320 unsolved missing person cases were sitting on its books. Today, that number has been cut to 79.

Officers take on any investigation that has stalled, with some of their breakthroughs tracing back half a century. The Independent spoke to the team about its work and why it remains vital that someone keeps searching for answers.

Constable Shaun Reeve, a member of the unit, said: “None of them have a voice today. A lot of them have been forgotten. A lot of people don’t even know they’ve been missing.”

Alongside the charity Missing People, The Independent is aiming to raise £165,000 to launch SafeCall, a free new service to help the 70,000 children reported missing each year find support and safety no matter what.

The team’s most significant breakthrough came with one of the UK’s longest-running missing person cases: the 52-year disappearance of Sheila Fox, who vanished from Coventry aged 16 in 1972.